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The BOLT mobile browser has been through eight months of beta testing and the developers, Bitstream, are now ready to launch out of beta into version 1.5.

The browser has so far been downloaded 2 million times and rendered in excess of 200 million web pages. The latest iteration of the browser includes the following:

Cache Support to speed users’ ability to move quickly back and forth between the currently and previously viewed Web pages through the use of backward and forward navigation.

Download Manager for easy download of files directly from BOLT and the ability to save them to specific folders on the mobile phone (requires JSR75 support on the device).

Support for Streaming Videos of Any Length that overcomes limitations on some phones’ ability to stream videos of longer lengths. The new approach ensures video clips will play on all devices, for any length video.

Video Wizard to assist users in configuring their device for optimal video playback.

Dedicated Search Bar on home page, for easier and faster online searches.

Improved Ability to Manage RSS Feeds by allowing users to arrange and file feeds just as they do with their favorites and bookmarks.

Enhancements for Touch Screen Devices such as simple volume controls for the BOLT media player which now offers volume controls on the screen.

Enhancements for BOLT Servers in the cloud, which increase the already fast BOLT mobile browser by an additional 10 to 20 percent.

Opera Software have just announced the release of Opera Mini 5 beta, the latest release to the popular third party BlackBerry browser.

The fifth generation of Opera Mini introduces a new look and feel as well as Speed Dial bookmarks and tabs. The tabbed browsing feature is by far one of the best additions to this product. This has been a sought after feature by the BlackBerry community for some time now, and it’s great to be able to finally get it.

To download the latest version of Opera Mini, visit m.opera.com/next from your BlackBerry browser.

RIM has always had problems with WiFi on a BlackBerry device. When comparing a BlackBerry to the iPhone on WiFi, the iPhone makes the BlackBerry look slow and jittery. RIM recognizes that there are a lot of improvements to be made with the pan and zoom functionality on the browser, and says the issue lies on-device, and has nothing to do with the NOC.

First, the on-device RAM needs to be improved in order for pages to load faster and for the device to have a better browsing experience.

Second, the BlackBerry is too conservative with power management. RIM puts the WiFi radio to sleep too quickly in order to preserve battery life, and this affects the WiFi browsing experience.

In recent videos posted by Salomondrin, we see the the Bold 9700 browser experience on WiFi compared with 3G. While it’s not obvious if the reviewer had all the necessary criteria for a proper comparison, the two devices load at approximately the same speed. WiFi should be much faster than 3G and if they are loading at approximately the same rate, this suggests that the issues may not have been fixed on upcoming devices.

If this is not the case, RIM needs to get these videos ripped from the Internet asap. Personally, I’m expecting the WiFi issues to be resolved with the Bold 9700 and the Storm 2, rather than have to wait for the next generation of devices.

When comparing the Bold 9700 and the Storm 2 on WiFi, the Bold 9700 actually does really well. Scrolling through a page doesn’t produce the same jitters as previous devices do. This is leaving me to believe that RIM has made some advancements in making the device better on WiFi.

So I’ll leave the question to the readers.

You have seen both videos, do you think the WiFi browsing issues have been resolved?

Simon Sage was good enough to point out that around 6 months ago Mike Kirkup confirmed Flash would find its way to BlackBerry sooner or later and while it’s interesting that Silverlight will be part of the equation, the idea that Flash will come to BlackBerry in around a year can be easily deduced from simply keeping up with the industry.

The news is likely based on an inside tip relating to the known fact that RIM is planning on updating its BlackBerry Browser in order to be more competitive with the other smartphones in the market. This is common knowledge as anyone following the industry knows that BlackBerry gets a lot of criticism for not producing a browser experience on par with the likes of iPhone. If you hear the Internet complaining about a BlackBerry feature, rest assured the 10,000 employees at RIM have heard and are working on it.

While it’s nice to get affirmation that RIM is planning on updating its browser, the following could just as easily be deduced:

1. It’s pretty much confirmed that RIM will be launching a device with more than 1GB of on-board memory.
2. It’s pretty much confirmed that RIM is working on a new media player for future consumer devices.
3. It’s pretty much confirmed that the next generation BlackBerry processors will exceed 1GHz.

On a related note, Skyfire should be coming out with a beta before any of this can be confirmed. BlackBerry users should be able to enjoy Flash well before RIM updates the browser.

One of the downsides of being a site based in Canada is that we often get blocked from leaks requring service access in the US. I have tried this browser on both the TELUS and Rogers network with no success. Any other Canadians want to rule in on this?

According to the @buzzedword (leaked to BBRocks), here are some features you’ll find with the browser: